Sophie Marceau in "The World is Not Enough": Thoroughly evil in this James Bond film and yet a performance that seems half in jest -- and a character that seems to have been damaged somewhere along the way. Evil is not Marceau's natural metier. less

Sophie Marceau in "The World is Not Enough": Thoroughly evil in this James Bond film and yet a performance that seems half in jest -- and a character that seems to have been damaged somewhere along the way. ... more

Sophie Marceau in "The World is Not Enough": Thoroughly... Photo-2722449.40807 - Houston Chronicle

Image 5 of 55

Not Evil: Sophie Marceau in "Anthony Zimmer." Like Garbo, something about Sophie Marceau doesn't seem evil -- usually her seemingly evil characters are revealed to be secretly good.

Not Evil: Sophie Marceau in "Anthony Zimmer." Like Garbo, something about Sophie Marceau doesn't seem evil -- usually her seemingly evil characters are revealed to be secretly good.

Theda Bara in "Cleopatra" (1917): The first of the screen vamps, she was pale and dark and played women who used sex in a willfully malevolent way. The first impulse is to laugh -- but look closer. Is she really that far from us? less

Theda Bara in "Cleopatra" (1917): The first of the screen vamps, she was pale and dark and played women who used sex in a willfully malevolent way. The first impulse is to laugh -- but look closer. Is she ... more

Theda Bara in "Cleopatra" (1917): The first of the... Photo-2722389.40807 - Houston Chronicle

Image 9 of 55

Now let's go back in time for bit: This is "The Vampire" by Edward Burne-Jones. A popular turn of the century painting and engraving, it shows the vamp exultant over the drained body of her lover-victim. This is the kind of erotic image that was popular. Sex and fear. less

Now let's go back in time for bit: This is "The Vampire" by Edward Burne-Jones. A popular turn of the century painting and engraving, it shows the vamp exultant over the drained body of her lover-victim. This ... more

Now let's go back in time for bit: This is "The... Photo-2722395.40807 - Houston Chronicle

Image 10 of 55

Likewise Edvard Munch's "The Vampire" (1895): Pale, beautiful, erotic, cold and soulless. This is the image that Theda Bara was evoked 20 years later.

Likewise Edvard Munch's "The Vampire" (1895): Pale, beautiful, erotic, cold and soulless. This is the image that Theda Bara was evoked 20 years later.

And right before Bara emerged on the scene, this is the kind of pop culture erotic image that would turn up in the early 1910s. You can see the relationship between this and Bara. And those Munch images that preceded it. less

And right before Bara emerged on the scene, this is the kind of pop culture erotic image that would turn up in the early 1910s. You can see the relationship between this and Bara. And those Munch images that ... more

And right before Bara emerged on the scene, this is the kind of pop... Photo-2722400.40807 - Houston Chronicle

Image 12 of 55

Now back to the movies: Nita Naldi. After Bara, she was the major screen vamp . . . until the vamp disappeared -- the victim of the 1920s sexual freedom and a society that was growing up.

Now back to the movies: Nita Naldi. After Bara, she was the major screen vamp . . . until the vamp disappeared -- the victim of the 1920s sexual freedom and a society that was growing up.

Now back to the movies: Nita Naldi. After Bara, she was the... Photo-2722402.40807 - Houston Chronicle

Image 13 of 55

Greta Garbo in "Flesh and the Devil": Garbo is a towering figure in this story. Typecast as the next Theda Bara in her early films, she chose to play the vamp as clueless, not willfully evil, then went in strike saying she didn't want to play any more "bad womens." She changed movies and probably guaranteed herself a career. (Handout) less

Greta Garbo in "Flesh and the Devil": Garbo is a towering figure in this story. Typecast as the next Theda Bara in her early films, she chose to play the vamp as clueless, not willfully evil, then went in ... more

No Longer Evil: Garbo in "Mata Hari." Garbo redeemed the evil woman, as in this film, in which she is bad to the bonel in the first half -- then is transformed into a sacrificial figure by love. Garbo took the vamp and made her morally complicated. (HO / Associated Press) less

No Longer Evil: Garbo in "Mata Hari." Garbo redeemed the evil woman, as in this film, in which she is bad to the bonel in the first half -- then is transformed into a sacrificial figure by love. Garbo took ... more

Not Evil: Norma Shearer was Garbo's mirror image. She blasted the old stereotype by taking the good woman into the bedroom. She made it acceptable for a woman to be sexually active and unmarried on screen. She took the ingenue and made her complicated. (Chronicle Archive) less

Not Evil: Norma Shearer was Garbo's mirror image. She blasted the old stereotype by taking the good woman into the bedroom. She made it acceptable for a woman to be sexually active and unmarried on screen. ... more

Marlene Dietrich in "Blonde Venus": By the time you get to Dietrich, the sexy woman is no longer evil -- she's ironic, self-aware and likes and understands men. The early 1930s was a great era for women -- and no era for evil women. less

Marlene Dietrich in "Blonde Venus": By the time you get to Dietrich, the sexy woman is no longer evil -- she's ironic, self-aware and likes and understands men. The early 1930s was a great era for women -- and ... more

Photo: Paramount Pictures 1932, Imdb.com

Marlene Dietrich in "Blonde Venus": By the time you get... Photo-2722410.40807 - Houston Chronicle

Image 17 of 55

Jean Harlow: In "Red-Headed Woman" (1932) she was greedy, dangerous and fairly evil -- yet in keeping with the temper of the times, the portrayal was funny, relatively light-hearted and with no underlying sexual anxiety. (MGM / MGM) less

Jean Harlow: In "Red-Headed Woman" (1932) she was greedy, dangerous and fairly evil -- yet in keeping with the temper of the times, the portrayal was funny, relatively light-hearted and with no underlying ... more

NOT EVIL: Claudette Colbert in "Torch Singer" (1933): Thanks to changes in society -- and to pioneers like Garbo and Shearer -- this was the sort of woman you most often saw in the early 1930s: Sexually confident, worldly, beautiful, strong and not evil. less

NOT EVIL: Claudette Colbert in "Torch Singer" (1933): Thanks to changes in society -- and to pioneers like Garbo and Shearer -- this was the sort of woman you most often saw in the early 1930s: Sexually ... more

NOT EVIL: Mae West in "She Done Him Wrong" (1933). Only in a period of mental health with regard to sex could a character like Mae West arrive -- a vision of female strength and good humor, who, in her films, bragged of having many lovers. In 1915, she would have been presented as an evil vamp -- in 1933, she was a comic heroine. (handout) less

NOT EVIL: Mae West in "She Done Him Wrong" (1933). Only in a period of mental health with regard to sex could a character like Mae West arrive -- a vision of female strength and good humor, who, in her films, ... more

Not Evil Even When She's Being Evil: Marilyn Monroe in "Niagara." As Francois Truffaut said when he reviewed this film, Marilyn had no business playing evil characters. It's just not who she was on screen.

Not Evil Even When She's Being Evil: Marilyn Monroe in "Niagara." As Francois Truffaut said when he reviewed this film, Marilyn had no business playing evil characters. It's just not who she was on screen.

Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct" (1991): The ultimate sex-can-kill-you villainess of the modern noir cycle came (concidentally?) when anxiety about AIDS was high and just emerging as a subject in mainstream movies. An audience worried about the dangers of sex went to see a movie in which sex killed people. But the trend would not last. (Tristar Pictures) less

Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct" (1991): The ultimate sex-can-kill-you villainess of the modern noir cycle came (concidentally?) when anxiety about AIDS was high and just emerging as a subject in mainstream ... more

Linda Fiorentino in "The Last Seduction": This 1994 John Dahl film, which earned Fiorentino a permanent place in film history, also signaled the end of the neo-noir evil-women cycle that had begun in the early 1980s. less

Linda Fiorentino in "The Last Seduction": This 1994 John Dahl film, which earned Fiorentino a permanent place in film history, also signaled the end of the neo-noir evil-women cycle that had begun in the early ... more

Linda Fiorentino in "The Last Seduction": This 1994 John... Photo-2722441.40807 - Houston Chronicle

Image 48 of 55

Madonna in "Body of Evidence" (1993): She kills a man with sex -- literally. Another late entry in the 1990s vamp cycle, just as it's about to be laughed out of existence. The culture was ready to move on.

Madonna in "Body of Evidence" (1993): She kills a man with sex -- literally. Another late entry in the 1990s vamp cycle, just as it's about to be laughed out of existence. The culture was ready to move on.

Lara Flynn Boyle: John Dahl's irresistible neo-noirs, such as "Red Rock West" from 1993, signaled the moment when the idea of the femme fatale still held currency . . . but there was a self-awareness, too, and an undercurrent of humor. The sexual anxiety was lifting. less

Lara Flynn Boyle: John Dahl's irresistible neo-noirs, such as "Red Rock West" from 1993, signaled the moment when the idea of the femme fatale still held currency . . . but there was a self-awareness, too, and ... more